I picked Venus Williams to reach the French Open final last week. But I didn’t pick her outfit. Had I known that she was going to outfit herself with a see-through can-can dress in advance, I would have picked her win! ADHEREL

Actually, I think the dress looks good. Not great. Just good. And I understand it’s the nude colored “underneath” that’s causing quite the stir.

“First of all, I try to represent what I think my personality is on the court,” Venus said about the dress. “That’s the first part of it. The second part is sometimes you just dream it up. Sometimes you can see a dress and say, Hey, I really like those slits, so let me put that in my tennis dress. Or I’m dying to do lace. How can we do that on the court and make it work? Sometimes it’s like, oh, here is the challenge. Sometimes it’s like, oh, suddenly a bright idea. It’s always different.”

Bright idea or not, Venus is playing very strong tennis this year. The 29-year-old hasn’t dropped a set in two matches and her draw looks manageable out to the finals.

And the dress seems to have deflected the pressures of Grand Slam tennis. After all, how often do tennis players talk openly about their bum?

“I mean, it all started in Australia with the slits, and it was about a I had a dress with really long slits in the front, and it was about wearing a dress that it looks like, oh, you have these slits with bareness,” Venus elaborated. “So it has really the design has nothing to do with the rear. It just so happens that I have a very well developed one. It’s all genetic. If you look at mom and dad, you’ll see the same thing happening. If you look at my sister, you’ll see the same thing. It’s genetic.”

What else is there to say? Is this what tennis has become on the WTA circuit?

As for the matches, Venus was tested a little but prevailed 6-2, 6-4 over Spain’s Arantxa Parra Santonja.
Venus will now play 2009 French Open semifinalist Dominika Cibulkova.

Defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova needed to save a handful of match points in the second set to overcome Andrea Petkovic in three sets 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. Other winners on a rain-filled Wednesday were Maria Kirilenko (Kuznetsova’s next opponent), Flavia Pennetta, Caroline Wozniacki and the darling of the French, Aravane Rezai who came through in the clutch with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win over Angelique Kerber.

Rezai, who’s among the threats to go deep in Paris, had some choice words for her French No. 1 countrywoman Marion Bartoli.

“Marion is a difficult girl. She already attacked me two years ago when I reached the final in Istanbul,” said Rezai Wednesday. “If she has a problem with me, I don’t know, because I did nothing. That’s a bit of a shame, but that’s her education. She has attacked me many times in the press. I don’t have the same education as the one she has.”

More on that to come I’m sure. Bartoli plays tomorrow. As does Elena Dementieva who completes her rained-out match plus a full slate of top half matches including Serena Williams, Jelena Jankovic, Maria Sharapova and four-time winner Justine Henin.

For the men tomorrow it should be business as usual. The two matches that catch my eye are the ones involving Novak Djokovic v. Kei Nishikori and Fernando Gonzalez v. Alexander Dolgopolov, Jr.

19 Comments for Venus Williams Commandos Her Way into the Third Round at French Open

jane Says:

“What else is there to say? Is this what tennis has become on the WTA circuit?”

Too bad about all this hype over her dress, especially when it overshadows the tennis she’s playing, which is pretty good. The dress itself is not so bad, it’s the deliberately shocking nature of the skin toned “briefs” which make it look like she’s going commando.

I have no real problem with a little fashion on the tennis court, but this was a major faux pas imo.

but…there´s light at the end of the tunnel kim and justines comeback´s have given the WTA something more then what polo said(I totaly agreed with him) specialy justin´s one Because she brought back the once missing art in the womans game

I miss the days of Graf, Seles, Martina and Evert They took tennis seriously. I have stopped watching women’s tennis because I see nothing there to admire anymore. Yes, that includes Kim and Justine. I simply cannot take seriously those people who prematurely retire then just as quickly unretire. That just tells me they have a confused way of looking at their careers.

polo, point taken but you have to agree that it has added some intrest to the WTA, but it has also shown how weak the field is i mean a player comes back and three tournaments later she´s winning the us open what a digrace,the field is crap. thank god here the
the only female tennis i watch is at slams (much more than nesesary,anyway). this is by no means trying to ofen american cultre but WTA is way to americanized (only thinking of money)

this quote from Tsonga really is classic after beating Ouanna. I pulled it off ESPN

“Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is not sorry after defeating good friend and countryman Josselin Ouanna: “No,” Tsonga said after the brutal 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 beatdown. “It’s the way it is. I have to continue in the tournament.” Tsonga won the match’s first nine games. “He was playing with me,” Ouanna said.

Tennis players’ on-court clothes are given to them by sponsors who hope to advertise their clothing brand.

Venus is the only one who asks “Why should I advertise someone else’s clothing brand, and put money in their pocket, when I could advertise my own clothing line instead, and put money in my own?” And so she wears dresses she designs for herself, from her own clothing line.

The more controversy she causes the more advertising she gets.

Plus I’m sure she enjoys designing her own dresses as a means of artistic expression. And yes, part of it probably is exhibitionism, but what top tennis player doesn’t have an exhibitionistic streak? Showing off, being flashy, is part of the job and keeps the audience entertained.

Just watching some clips of Federer vs. Baggy in Indian Wells. Unbelievable. As incredible as Baghdatis is, even at his absolute best (and Baghdatis is one of my favorite players), Federer is twice as good over the course of a match. That’s why Fed is the best of all time.

Venus had another version of this outfit in Madrid that resulted in an “exposure ” accident! I didn’t like the style there and don’t like the outfit for RG either. It is not stylish or nice, it is just controversial.

look at Sharapova’s outfit by contrast.It is simple and elegant. I also liked Ana Ivanovic’s outfit in Madrid.

Kimmi,
Well, I can only say it was the top! :) and it has happened before. I always thought Serena was the one with controversial outfits. Apparently Venus has her own share. I think she is better in tennis than fashion design!

“fadingis Says: but…there´s light at the end of the tunnel kim and justines comeback´s have given the WTA something more then what polo said(I totaly agreed with him) specialy justin´s one Because she brought back the once missing art in the womans game.